We had a family walk to Adagio this morning for coffee and breakfast. We were going to hang out in Turtle Park, but it's under construction. Every time I go by Turtle Park, I remember bringing my babies there. Abby wanted to swing and giggle the entire time and Logan would make friends with the other kids. We bought our house in Park Hill in 2002, the same year Abby was born. With the second child, we decided we needed more space and I was determined to live in Park Hill. It was the one place I lived when I was a child that I really loved (before life with my family got really crazy). In the early 70's, we lived off of 16th and Jasmine. My parents bought the house for $16,500 and sold it a few years later for $36,000. I went to kindergarten at Montview elementary (my favorite memory is taking my baby brother to school for show and tell - he was a big hit).
In 2002, the house prices in Park Hill were more expensive than I could imagine for myself. I would go for walks with my friend Rebecca (who was a realtor) and we would dream about owning one of the big houses on 17th Avenue Parkway. I even made a heart's desire list for a house:
Park Hill neighborhood
3 Bedrooms
2 Bathrooms
Fireplace
Hardwood Floors
Garage
At least 2000 square feet
$350,000 or less
I was searching online one day and saw a new listing for a house on Colorado Boulevard (which is a 6 lane street). I thought there was no way I would want to live on that street, but the first words I saw on the description were, "QUIET INSIDE." I called Rebecca and asked her to take me through it. Greg was at the airport heading to Philadelphia on a business trip, but I called him from the alley before I went into the house. The fence in the backyard was a beautiful brick wall. I told him I found our house. Two steps inside the front door, I knew I was home. There was (is) a huge stone fireplace in the living room that caught my attention and a circular stairway upstairs. This was the description of the house:
4 Bedrooms plus a bonus room in the basement
4 Bathrooms
3 Fireplaces (living room, master bedroom and family room)
Hardwood Floors
2 car garage
Office
Family Room in the basement
3600 Square feet
Views of city skyline, City Park Golf course, and mountains
List price: $350,000
I had used a list before to make my dream a realty (I met Greg after a list I made - more on that story another day), but I was really amazed that it worked so well. I like to joke that Greg always wanted to live on a golf course - he just didn't specify that he didn't want 6 lanes of traffic in between.
The same year we found our house, my friends Peter and Sue and I met once a week for 9 weeks to discuss the book Your Heart's Desire: Instructions for Creating the Life you Really Want by Sonia Choquette. I used Sonia's principles for finding our house. Sonia has a saying, "This or better, so be it" which was so true with our house. I have continued to use these principles in lots of ways in my life and I use these principles when working with my clients. When people ask me what kind of real estate I do, I tell them, heart's desire real estate.
This or better, so be it.
No comments:
Post a Comment